ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's government has decided to lift its years-long ban on new gas connections for domestic use, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Wednesday, saying authorities would issue Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) connections for domestic use.

Pakistan's government announced it was banning new gas connections in 2021, citing rapidly depleting gas reserves in the country. This forced users to switch from piped gas to other alternative sources of fuel for cooking and heating purposes, such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, (LPG), which is more expensive.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Malik said the government was mindful of accidents such as explosions due to gas leaks and substandard cylinders, and of the difficulties people faced in having gas cylinders refilled.

"Due to all of these things and at the people's strong insistence, the prime minister and the government of Pakistan have decided that RLNG, which is imported gas, its new connections will be issued," Malik said.

The minister said that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) will entertain people's applications for new gas connections after the cabinet issues a notification in this regard.

Malik said RLNG is more expensive than local gas but said it was still 30-35 percent cheaper than LPG.

"This means that inflation, regarding which the government of Shehbaz Sharif has controlled through untiring efforts, people will get some more support on it," the minister said.

Malik said the prime minister was mindful that RLNG is expensive compared to domestic gas, adding that the government would try to tackle Pakistan's energy crisis.

"For the discovery of local gas, we have completed one bid round," he said. "The second bid round will be completed soon. Companies from around the world, be it [from] our friend Turkiye, our friend China or our friend America, we will bring all these companies and try to utilize all the resources of on-shore and off-shore gas."

The development takes place after the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), one of the country's leading oil and gas exploration and production companies, said it has discovered "significant" oil and gas reserves in the Attock district of Punjab last week.

Earlier in February, Mari Energies, a Pakistani hydrocarbon exploration firm, discovered new oil and gas reserves in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, with initial tests suggesting a flow of 12.96 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of gas and around 20 barrel per day (bbl/d) of condensate.